Our MURI team’s focus is on designing and developing plasmonic substrates as efficient hot electron/hole sources. The charge transfer process from photoexcited surface plasmons to adsorbate molecules will be studied using these substrates and model molecular systems. Studies will include four chemical reactions:

 

(a) light-driven dissociation of diatomic molecules at surfaces

 

(b) the hot hole-driven photo-oxidation and electron transfer growth of nanoparticles

 

(c) photocatalytic water splitting

 

(d) the photoreduction of carbon dioxide, critical for the solar-based production of liquid fuels.

 

This full range of experimental capabilities will be used to study plasmon-induced liquid-vapor phase transitions. The anticipated outcome of this research will be a significant advance in our fundamental understanding of plasmon-induced chemical and physical processes, successful strategies for developing useful plasmonic substrates that drive these processes, and a knowledge base that will enable the study of plasmon-induced processes as a major new frontier in physical chemistry research.